Savage stuff

Paprika is a savage red, and though it might sound strange, I like a bit of savagery. I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown LA yesterday where there was a lot of visual angst on display, much of it headache-inducing. Cavernous warehouses full of ripped metal and brown swaddling, swirling red daubs and matted roadkill. The colours were rust and grey and dried blood. Nothing had a frame, the frame was no longer needed. The only room I liked was the one housing the permanent collection, the ones always there; Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns. But it was a small, angry picture, the first one I saw as I entered, that held my attention. It was by Dubuffet, and it was called Le Havre. It was a map of sorts and the colours were magnificently wild and fierce. There was little attempt at verisimilitude. The painter’s quote next to it caught my eye. It said “Personally, I believe very much in values of savagery; I mean: instinct, passion, mood, violence, madness.” Cooking and food itself is nothing if not a passionate and instinctive endeavour, although it’s easy to get disconnected from this. Madness I can believe, if only through the sheer boredom and repetition of eating the same things (I am 75% avocado). Violence can be mined in the pummeling of garlic and herbs, the mashing of potatoes, the beating, the whipping, the disemboweling of cake batter*. You can feel as pent up as a boxer and as a zen as a yogi. The paprika in the photo was in a bowl, powdery like pigment, along with other spices and teas in a stall at the farmers’ market. You were allowed to lift up a spoon of it and smell, and this helped because the one above was smoky and the other paprika was not. But the colour was the reason I bought. It made me want to stick a finger in the middle. It was an angry red; savage, mad and violent. I’ll see you in the kitchen.

Paprika is the dried and ground flesh of peppers (cayenne pepper comes from dried and ground chillis – it’s easy to get confused). The peppers are dried from the oven, sun or smoke (the best over oak fires) and used mainly in Spanish and Hungarian dishes. Paprika can be sweet, smoky or hot with a huge variation both in flavour and colour. Try not to put the powder over direct heat or it will scorch and taste bitter. It has an affinity with coriander and cumin and potatoes, as well as chickpeas and dusted over halloumi. I tried it with Jerusalem artichokes to very good effect. The roasted almonds with paprika recipe is a Spanish one and smoked paprika is recommended.

Roast almonds with paprika and rosemary

Adapted from Sam and Sam Clark, Moro

250g whole blanched almonds

2 tsps of olive oil

1 tsp of smoked sweet paprika

1½ tsps of flaky sea salt, like Maldon

2 sprigs of rosemary, chopped finely without any wood

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F. Place the almonds on a baking tray and dry-roast in the top of the oven for about 10 minutes or until starting to turn golden. Remove and stir in the olive oil, paprika, salt and rosemary. Return to the oven for around 10-15 minutes. Everything should be sizzling and fragrant. If you would like to crisp everything up a little more, give the nuts a shake in a dry frying pan/skillet at the end. Remove and cool before eating.

Jerusalem artichokes with garlic and paprika

Adapted from Nigel Slater, Real Cooking

Serves 2

500g Jerusalem artichokes (3 or 4 big handfuls)

Butter, about 75g

6-8 cloves of garlic

A couple of bay leaves

1 heaped tsp of paprika

Peel the artichokes and slice them into rounds. Melt the butter in a shallow pan, one which has a lid. Drop the garlic cloves, whole and unpeeled, the bay leaves and the paprika into the butter and whirl it around with a wooden spoon. Add the artichokes and cook over a moderate heat until the chokes and garlic are slightly golden. Take care not to let the butter burn. Pour in a small glug of olive oil if it looks that way. Turn the heat down so the butter is lightly bubbling, cover with a lid and cook for about ten minutes. Shake the pan as they cook. Remove the lid, turn up the heat and continue cooking until the artichokes are tender, golden and crusty. Eat with the smashed open garlic pearls.

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I LOVE this..as a highly visual person, I really appreciate your beautiful photos. I also love how vividly into why you love paprika for its colour- I enjoy discussing food imagery immensely and I love food photography- I find it so interesting to play with the colour of food to make interesting images..it all really supplements your recipe that you included

I adore cooking Indian curries, throwing colour after colour into the pot; white coconut, red chili, paprika, yellow tumeric, cinnamon sticks, spotty black cardamom seeds, green coriander and curry leaves – the gamut of colours that fight with each other and meld blissfully into a wonderful aroma served on yellow rice with nuts and raisins, topped with sliced banana and tomato/onion sambal. Ah… Tony

paprika is my own favorite ingredient. And the background I have, I can use it as much as I want, My whole family loves spicy food and I keep adding paprika into EVERYTHING!!!!!
And now I am going to try these recipes too.

While we love paprika, our favorite form of it is smoked paprika. It adds a nicer depth of flavor and that smokiness is just divine. Particularly, we love adding it to peppers and onions with our pierogies.

I think your blog is really fantastic! So I’ve nominated it for The Versatile Blogger Award. To find out about the award and the rules head to http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/. I love the photos you post too & the adventures you share!

you’re welcome. Since I live in the wilds of southern Oregon I can peek once in a while at what life in L.A. is like these days by following your blog. Hope you won’t mind. My big stress of the day today was getting a good fire going in the wood stove. Aaahhh the country life. Kindest regards,

Your love and passion for paprika is a beautiful thing! It is such an underrated spice, so it’s good to see it getting the attention it deserves. I had to laugh at your comment that you are 75% avoocado. In January, I am 75% carrots and humus!

Reblogged this on Southeast Kansas Buying Club and commented:
Savage recipes…
Paprika is one of the spices we discussed during our Soul Food Junkies presentation. A delicious addition to many ethnic dishes, it adds flavor and color. Always remember to sprinkle some paprika over your potato salad and deviled eggs before you serve them!